Page 19 of Conner's Luna

"A story?" I question.

"Something," she hiccups, "to get me to stop crying."

"OK," I'm no storyteller, but what the hell. "Ah, so, my friends, Brax, Sean and Sarj, you know them?" She sniffles and nods. "They, um, they can be really competitive with each other, right? So, one day, another friend, Georgina, gets it in her head to go skinny-dipping. Now, Sean doesn't swim. At first, he's like, nah, but Braxton was already there with some of his friends, 'cause he's younger, right? Then Sarj agrees to go, which is weird 'cause he hates Georgina, but then Sean has to go, too. But the dude can't fucking swim." I pause because Bailey is giggling, tears still in her eyes, but her beautiful smile is back. "What?" I ask her.

"Nothing, keep going," she says.

"OK, so, basically, Sean almost drowns and has to be rescued by the, ah, the EMTs, while he is completely bare-assed."

Her laughter rings out. "Conner," she gasps, "you are not a good story-teller!"

"Hey," I pout a little. My wolf opens one eye and I swear the fucker rolls it at me. Apparently, my story put him to sleep, it was so boring. "You tell one, then, smartass."

She brightens and takes a breath. "Once upon a time. That's how you start a story, by the way." I mock-scowl at her when she winks at me. "There was a peasant girl, who loved the prince, but he was blind to her love," she says sadly. "He was a beast to her, more interested in the beautifully gilded ladies of his court. Sorrow filled her heart every time he smiled at one of the ladies. It broke when he was cruel to her." She takes a deep breath.

My attention is caught by the eerie similarity between Bailey's life and this 'peasant girl.’ Does she realize? Nah, she's not aware of Trey's betrayal of her. Maybe she thinks about him? Longs for him the way that I want Lydia? It doesn't sit right with me. I don't want Bailey to want Trey, mate or not.

"He didn't realize how often he spoke with her, how much care and time she spent making his life easier. He just didn't notice. But someone else did." Her voice drops, "a beast with a dark heart and clever mind wanted the peasant girl for himself." Her eyes widen on me in cute emphasis. "He schemed and spied until finally one day he sees his opportunity to snatch her away from the prince."

She takes another deep breath and I realize that my wolf is staring at Bailey, completely entranced by her wacky fairytale. I am too, I have to admit, but it's the look in her eyes and those soft, pink lips and her voice. Fuck, her voice.

"He took the girl to his kingdom and crowned her his queen. Years passed. The prince missed his peasant girl, but she was nowhere to be found. Until one day, the beast brings his queen to with the prince. The prince recognizes his peasant girl, but he is too late. She had already fallen in love with her beast." Bailey stops and looks at me expectantly.

"That's it? You're just ending it there?" I protest. We reach my truck and I turn to her, glaring.

"Yeah," those pretty lips stretch into a smile.

"Naw, you need a fight or something." She frowns so I elaborate, "like, the prince challenges the beast for his m-his queen, and then the beast tears the prince apart." I nod enthusiastically. "Small pieces," I add.

Bailey glares at me, but her lips twitch in a smile. "Too violent."

"Violence is a cruel necessity in this case," I reply, teasing her just to see her eyes keep twinkling.

She rolls her eyes at me. "OK, I admit the prince's brutal death makes for a good ending."

I grin smugly, "I know." I open her door for her and help her up.

Under her breath, she mumbles, "still too violent."

"Let's go feed you, veggie-girl."

"We just ate!" she protests.

I shrug. "I'm hungry."

When we pull back up into her driveway hours later it is just getting dark. Part of me hates when winter comes and the days grow shorter, but my wolf loves the night. Dusk is the perfect time to hunt.

Apparently, I'm not the only wolf who likes to stalk his prey in the waning hours of daylight. When I step out of my truck I can see glinting wolf-eyes from the bushes, two pairs.

I stare, hard, at them, the challenge unmistakable. We may be on RedMoon land, but I am the fucking ClearHowl alphason. My lip curls up, showing canines when a thought occurs to me. Is it Lydia watching me in the dark? My heart skips a beat. Maybe my mate cares that I was with Bailey all day.

Bailey jumps down from the truck and my attention snaps to her. Automatically, the words fall out, "damnit, Bails! Wait for me to help you down!" I hurry around the front, eyeing her sassy, eye-rolling little body. She looks fine, not hurt at all from her leap down.

She takes a step around me and winces, faltering. I grasp her quickly, making sure to support her body with mine.

"You OK, Ballet?" I ask her.

I can see her blush. "I'm fine. A pirouette gone wrong," she mumbles, eyeing me.

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